Iberostar Cozumel dock fees!!!!!

[rossandmaureen]

I think there is a distinction between the two properties and the name is a big part of it. Scuba Club Cozumel is a dedicated dive resort and that is implied both by the name and their website where much of the content is devoted to their scuba offerings. The people who patronize SCC (and they do have a good following on this board) go for that reason. The Iberostar is marketing to a broader group of prospective customers and the scuba option is a minor part of what they present. Were they to change their name to Iberostar Scuba Club they would send an entirely different message. The resort is not about to abandon a huge market segment of general vacationers in order to become a specialist catering primarily to divers and it would be scary to think about 360 rooms emptying out every morning to head to dive boats.

No one in this thread has suggested that the Iberostar doesn’t have the right to pursue whatever business model they wish. What we have said is that this is an issue that potentially impacts on the travelling diver by threatening the style of easy pick-ups we have enjoyed and, if we do not draw a line in the sand, the trend will continue. If dive and travel forums make their business model less profitable because the loss of room revenue is greater than the increase in dive revenue then smart management will re-think the policy.

Is this a fight worth fighting? If you appreciate freedom of choice in picking a dive op and if you like the idea of having a wide range of accommodation to select from so that you can get the value and features that appeal to you and your family, then I think it is. Try as they might, the local independents will have far less influence on the Iberostar than the travelling dive community. As any business owner knows…if you fail to listen to your customer…you will eventually fail.

 

[ggunn]

I think there is a distinction between the two properties and the name is a big part of it. Scuba Club Cozumel is a dedicated dive resort and that is implied both by the name and their website where much of the content is devoted to their scuba offerings. The people who patronize SCC (and they do have a good following on this board) go for that reason. The Iberostar is marketing to a broader group of prospective customers and the scuba option is a minor part of what they present. Were they to change their name to Iberostar Scuba Club they would send an entirely different message. The resort is not about to abandon a huge market segment of general vacationers in order to become a specialist catering primarily to divers and it would be scary to think about 360 rooms emptying out every morning to head to dive boats.

No one in this thread has suggested that the Iberostar doesn’t have the right to pursue whatever business model they wish. What we have said is that this is an issue that potentially impacts on the travelling diver by threatening the style of easy pick-ups we have enjoyed and, if we do not draw a line in the sand, the trend will continue. If dive and travel forums make their business model less profitable because the loss of room revenue is greater than the increase in dive revenue then smart management will re-think the policy.

Is this a fight worth fighting? If you appreciate freedom of choice in picking a dive op and if you like the idea of having a wide range of accommodation to select from so that you can get the value and features that appeal to you and your family, then I think it is. Try as they might, the local independents will have far less influence on the Iberostar than the travelling dive community. As any business owner knows…if you fail to listen to your customer…you will eventually fail.

As you yourself say, not all (or even nearly all) the IB's customers are divers; even a total boycott of the IB by divers wouldn't put them out of business. I'll wager that to the vast majority of IB's customer base, divers included, this whole thing is a don't-care.

This is a problem (if indeed it is a problem) which will solve itself in time. If the fee system works for the IB, they will continue it, if it doesn't, they will stop. The name of the resort is, IMO, a non sequitur in this discussion.

 

[BTravlin]

Too much is being made of the name. I pointed that out just as a way of saying that SCC is a dive resort. You go stay there to dive with them while IB is a resort that offers diving.

You're right though in that IB can do whatever they want. At the same time, SB members are free to pass the info along in an effort to get IB to change their ways. Only time will tell how it all pans out.

 

[Tailspin]

I've also heard from several former Dressel employees that they are under extreme pressure to SELL, SELL, SELL and if they don't produce, they are out.

I was recently at the IB and dove exclusively with Dressel the whole week. During that time I had 5 different DM/Instructors on the boat dives, and met and talked with most of the people at the shop during the week.

I was never pressured to buy anything from anyone the whole week. I'm not even sure what they would be selling?

The closest I got to a sales pitch was one afternoon as I was getting off the dive boat a Dressel staffer asked if I was interested in a night dive that evening. They needed one extra person to make the group big enough to justify the boat skipper taking his rig out.

I'm not sure who is being pressured to sell at Dressel, but my experience would tell me it isn't the dive operation on Coz, they were all pretty laid back.

 

[billindenver]

There was certainly no pressure or sales tactics put on us when I stayed at Iberostar and dove with Dressel either. I was diving with an off site op for most of that week and Dressel was well aware of it, but they were all very friendly to me every morning and afternoon anyway. Like the Dive with Martin slander, I very much doubt that there is any truth at all behind the insinuations...

 

[rossandmaureen]

The sales pressure will not generally be directed at certified divers, especially those with advanced certifications. In the larger all-inclusive resorts it is directed at non-divers, hanging around the pools, to take "free" introductory scuba lessons that are designed to lead to sales of dive trips and full certification lessons. This is not unique to Dressel...it is the norm for every major resort property I have ever stayed at. It is not a big deal and they exert far less pressure than time share salespeople. It is one of those things you come to expect at larger resorts.

 

[DeltaWardog]

It doesn't matter what the outcome of the dock fee situation is now as far as my vacation $$$ go. I won't ever darken Iberostar/Dressel's doorstep after what I witnessed yesterday on Yucab. Our group ran into another group of about 10 divers absolutely tearing up the reef. There were people holding onto sponges so they could stare at a turtle without having to swim against the current I guess. Apart from that most of the group was kicking the hell out of the reef as they swam around. One girl with a camera (who had NO business attempting underwater photography with her horrible diving skills) was completely laying on the reef to get shots of a fish. I hope she got some fire coral in sensitive spots. It was the biggest clusterf@%& I've ever seen underwater in Coz.

The whole time this was going on their DM was doing absolutely nothing to stop it. My wife actually swam up to one woman holding on to a sponge and slapped her hand off it. Some of them seemed to get the message at that point and got up off the reef a bit but others in the group were still kicking things. grrrrrrrrrr

When we surfaced just before they did, there was only one other boat on the reef and what do you know. "Iberostar" painted on the side.

The whole thing was really disgraceful and that DM should have his status revoked. Those divers should be banned from the park for life.

In case you can't tell I'm still angry about it.

 

[judydivescoz]

There was certainly no pressure or sales tactics put on us when I stayed at Iberostar and dove with Dressel either. I was diving with an off site op for most of that week and Dressel was well aware of it, but they were all very friendly to me every morning and afternoon anyway. Like the Dive with Martin slander, I very much doubt that there is any truth at all behind the insinuations...

Who slandered who?????

 

[Tailspin]

When we surfaced just before they did, there was only one other boat on the reef and what do you know. "Iberostar" painted on the side.

Interesting, when I was there in January I never saw an 'Iberostar' boat. All the boats came from Dive Palancar, and were labeled as such. I never saw a boat with either Dressel or Iberostar marked on it all week, and I dove every day at least twice.

I never asked, but just assumed Dressel and/or the Iberostar didn't have their own dive fleet.

Didn't matter, the Dive Palancar guys were great.

 

[BaileyM]

I have a simple question. Has anyone - Christi, Antonio, another dive op, or an Iberostar customer - talked to a manager at the hotel, in person, to get real, factual, current information? This thread has been running for quite some time and I haven't seen a recent post that even mentions a conversation with the hotel. Help??